


Two Fathers, One Love

by mrs_pennylane



Category: Project Blue Book (TV)
Genre: Father Figures, Fatherhood, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Mimi is still married to Allen, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Two Fathers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-22 06:30:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19661734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrs_pennylane/pseuds/mrs_pennylane
Summary: Officially, Joel has only one father: Allen Hynek. But Michael Quinn is also happy to treat him the way a father would, even if the boy just sees him as his father's co-worker and friend, whom he admires very much.Chapter One: Michael spends a day playing baseball with Joel and Allen watching.Chapter Two: Allen teaches a little bit of astronomy to his son while Michael admires them together.





	1. Allen

**Author's Note:**

> Published for the KidFicathon week! I am always happy to write for the Project Blue Book fandom, especially when it comes to Hynequinn and now having the opportunity to add Joel to the equation.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael and Joel play baseball while Allen watches it.

Allen sat down on the bench with his can of Coke and watched as Joel ran from one side of the field to the other. His son was sweaty and dirty but he was smiling from one ear to the other and that made Allen smile too. Allen and Michael had been trying for months to take a day off together with Joel, since the boy adored and admired Quinn so much, and Blue Book never seemed to let them take a break but finally they had a weekend off.

From the first day Joel set his eyes on Michael, the admiration started. Allen understood where that came from but couldn’t help that tiny bit of jealousy from taking over his heart for a time – he was his father and he felt like Joel didn’t admire him that much. Of course, who was Allen Hynek next to Michael Quinn, air force pilot who is a war hero? He is just a university professor. 

But before he could notice, he had fallen in love with Michael and started to appreciate that Joel was impressed by the man. He watched Michael throwing the ball to Joel and his boy hit it with his baseball bat (an object Michael almost begged for Allen to buy), sending the ball so far that Michael wrinkled his nose while he tried to look where it went. The captain ran towards where the ball landed.

“DAD!! Did you see it?? I hit it soooo hard!” Joel screamed from the camp, waving at his father.

“Yes!” Allen shouted, rising from his seat. “You are so strong, Joel! It doesn’t even look like this is your first time playing.”

“Well, it’s not actually my first time…” Joel approached where Allen was, taking off his gloves. 

Allen raised his eyebrows at his son.

“I played with some of my friends once or twice.” The kid explained, reaching for the bottle of water next to Allen.

“Ohh, so you made Michael believe he was teaching you?” Allen couldn’t help the smile from creeping on his lips.

Joel bit his lower lip. “Kind of.” He confessed, “I’m not good at it and he wanted so much to teach me and I like spending time with him.”

“I know you do, that’s why we decided to have a time off with you this weekend.”

Michael came running from across the field, waving the ball. “I got it!!” he screamed and Joel ran towards him, taking the bat he left midway and preparing himself for another round.

“Joel, your gloves!” Allen screamed to his son and the boy ran back, grabbing the gloves quickly from his hand and running back. Michael gave Allen such a bright and beautiful smile and he was sure he was going to melt because of it. 

“Okay, kiddo, I’m throwing the ball again! Prepare yourself!” Allen heard from afar Michael talking to Joel and he sat down again. Quinn flexed his muscles and with-not-so-much force, he threw it in Joel’s direction. Allen understood next to nothing about sports and he was “afraid of the ball” type of guy, so he definitely resented not being the one providing those moments to Joel.

It was the first thing Michael suggested when they thought about spending time with Joel. _“Does he like sports, babe? Because I would love to teach him a thing or two.”_ Michael had said one day, when they were at a hotel room somewhere in America, Michael with his head on Allen’s belly. “ _We could go out and buy some hamburgers afterwards, maybe some ice cream.”_ It was lovely to hear him saying that because despite the mess they were in (him still being married to Mimi, the cheating implied in that, the homophobia), he wanted to be close to Joel, his son, his love, his reason for waking up every day. And Joel would benefit so much from being close to a man he admires.

Allen looked towards the field and Joel was running again but this time Michael was chasing him, both of them laughing. With one strong movement, Michael grabbed Joel by his torso and lifted him like he didn’t weigh a thing. Quinn put Joel on his shoulder, the boy squeaking and laughing while Allen smiled at their interaction. Joel liked that very much – being carried by him or Michael. Mimi couldn’t do it anymore now that Joel had reached his 11th year of life.

“I think your son is a baseball prodigy, Allen!” Michael said holding a giggling Joel on his shoulder, and Allen walked towards them, taking Joel’s water bottle with him.

“Is he? Do you think we could win some money with him?” Allen joked, ticking his son’s armpit. Joel tried to dodge him, laughing louder.

“No, please, dad!!” His son was red face from laughing and running and sweating, and Allen helped Michael easing him down onto the floor.

“Should we get something to eat?” Michael suggested as they walked towards the car. “There is a nice drive-thru nearby, we could have some hamburgers, French fries and Coke. What do you think, Joel?”

Allen knew that Joel would _love_ that so he wasn’t surprised when he looked to the side and found a very excited Joel nodding his head frantically. The boy turned for his father, his eyes making the silent question ‘can we go, please??’ and Allen would never (and could never) deny that to him, especially when it was such a special day – his day with Michael.

“I think that’s a very good idea.” Allen said, guiding Joel to his seat. “And you can have extra cheddar on your burger!”

“Can I have extra-large French fries too?”

Michael sat on his side of the car, behind the wheel. “Are you gonna be able to eat that much?” he asked, turning just a bit to eye Joel.

“Yeah, I’m starving!”

Both Michael and Allen turned to look at each other, and Allen gave him a humorous nod – he knew Joel wouldn’t be able to eat his whole burger, let alone extra-large French fries. But he was going to order anyway because he liked to see the way Joel’s face brightened up at the sight of his food arriving whenever they went out.

Michael winked at Allen, a gesture the professor understood pretty well. Quinn was pleased and happy, and Allen smiled sheepishly because he hasn’t gotten used yet to see such a handsome man have so much feelings towards him to the point of wanting to be near his son too. He didn’t know if that’s what women felt when they wanted to get pregnant of their man but right at that moment, he wanted so much to make a father out of Michael Quinn.

If only he wasn’t married.

If only being gay wasn’t considered illegal.

If only they lived on another planet.

But Allen wasn’t going to let those thoughts absorb his happiness from that moment. He smiled to himself and looked over to Quinn, who was with a happy smirk on his face, and then turned to look at Joel, who was toying with the ball in his hands. They were going to eat until they were full and Allen was going to take Joel home to bath and sleep, Michael was going to help him take his son to bed and he was going to secretly give a kiss on Michael when Mimi left the room, thanking the man for being exactly who he needed in his life. And in Joel’s.


	2. Michael

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allen teaches a little about constellations to Joel and Michael.

Michael was sat at the nice grass in the front yard of the Hyneks’ house, the starry sky keeping him company while he drank his beer. In front of him, Allen and Joel were together looking at the sky so Allen could teach his son a thing or two about constellations. Michael knew little about it but as usual, he loved hearing Allen’s enthusiastic voice explaining about astronomy.

Honestly, Joel didn’t know how lucky he was to have a father like Allen, a warm and loving figure who did everything and anything to make his son happy. Including introducing Michael to their family, even if Michael was… a strange element. But Joel admired him so much and Michael loved spending time with the kid, so he and Allen arranged to spend weekends doing things with the boy. The week prior, it was Michael’s turn to do an activity with Joel and this week, it was Allen’s. Mimi thought it was lovely that Joel now had two men to admire, but if she only knew…

That should bother Michael. Like, bother  _ a lot _ , but it didn’t. Michael knew how society worked and most gay men were married to women in order to hide from prejudice. If he let that get in his way, then he would love no one, so it’s better to love in secrecy than to never love at all. 

Even if society allowed that type of relationship, the air force wouldn’t. So either way, this was the best scenario for Michael. And Allen, for that matter. Mimi… well, he didn’t want to think much about that. It was his happiness he was chasing and she and Allen seemed so distant nowadays, something Allen confirmed had been happening for years now. Plus, she had a new best friend with whom she spent a lot of time, so more time for him and Allen to spend together.

Allen was explaining something to his son, pointing at the left side of the sky, and Joel looked entranced by the explanation, nodding here and there, his eyes wide-open. 

“So, ever since prehistory, man has been cataloging constellations. Of course, the names and shapes were different from one culture to the other.” Allen’s soft voice invaded Michael’s thoughts and he smirked, looking up at the sky. “There are 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union.”

“Eighty eight?!” Joel exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know.” 

Michael wished he had a father like Allen. Despite how much the professor worked (and he worked a lot, both on Project Blue Book and at the university), he always managed to be there for his son, to know his interests and listen to his day at school. Instead, Michael got an abusive father who was more concerned about making Michael buy him cigarettes and punish him whenever he used the change to buy candies. The air force was an escape from that and eventually, it became his family.

Of course, until Allen came in. Now he understood a little of what having a family felt like, thanks to the handsome brown-haired man in front of him. Michael wanted so much to be a father and this was his opportunity.

“Michael.” He looked down from the sky and saw that Allen and Joel were looking at him. The boy was smiling. “Do you wanna see the stars too?”

“Yes, sure.” Michael softly replied, rising from the grass and walking over to them. Allen brushed his hand on Michael’s arm and they looked at each, sharing a little moment of affection. Quinn’s heart started beating fast.

“I was telling Joel we have 88 recognized constellations. A lot of them we can see on the naked eye, which is the best thing.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know that.” Michael answered. He actually knew that they could be seen on the naked eye but since Allen liked so much to talk about it, Quinn wasn’t going to spoil that.

“Yes!” Allen sat down on the grass and indicated for them to do that too. Then, he laid down, looking up to the sky. It was as if they had gone out camping and were just by the fire, cooking some marshmallows and gazing at the stars. Michael made a mental note that they had to go camping someday.

Michael more felt than saw Joel imitating his dad, laying on the grass, and Michael laid with them. “I’m sure you’ve heard bout  _ Ursa Major _ , I think it’s one of the most popular one. It has seven main stars.” Allen pointed out seven bright dots in the sky.

“It has two brightest stars.” Allen pointed to two very bright dots. “They are called _Dubhe_ and _Merak_.”

“Those two?” Joel pointed to the dots to make sure he got it right. For the briefest of moments, Michael looked in adoration to father and son right beside him before he turned to look back to the sky.

“Yes.” Allen replied. “They help you navigate and find the North Star, which is the brightest star from  _ Ursa Minor _ .”

Hynek drew with his finger the shape of both constellations, showing where one ended and the other started.

“Wow.” Joel exclaimed softly, turning to look at Michael. “Do you see it too?”

“Yes.” Michael said, trying to draw the shape of one of the constellations and forgetting midway how was it supposed to be like. 

“Here…” Joel said, raising his own finger to draw it for Michael, making the complete shape of  _ Ursa Major  _ and  _ Ursa Minor _ . Quinn lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

“He stores information as fast as I do.” Allen proudly smiled and Michael could kiss him there.  _ I love you, Allen Hynek. _ Of course Joel was as bright as his father, it was one of the most visible traits of the boy.

“So you are a very bright kid, huh?” Quinn teased, messing with Joel’s hair, who giggled.

Allen laughed with him and it was one of the moments where life gets so happy that it’s unbelievable. How could have Michael lived so long without this?

“ _ Joel! _ ” They heard Mimi’s voice from the front door. “It’s getting late, time to sleep.”

“Ahh, but mom…!” The kid started protesting but Allen looked at him sharply. 

“Your mother is right, Joel. You have school tomorrow.” 

Joel looked from Allen to Michael and then back to this father, his face dropping a little. Obviously he didn’t want to go to bed, even Michael didn’t want to leave yet but still, it was indeed getting late.

“We could do this some other time again, Joel.” Michael knew this spark of hope was more directed to himself than to the boy but Joel smiled brightly when he said.

“Right Allen?” Michael turned to Allen, who nodded.

“Of course we will. I have so many things to teach the two of you!” Hynek started leading Joel inside the house and Michael followed them, watching the boy go brush his teeth.

“He gets so caught up when Allen teaches him astronomy. He really is his son!” Mimi joked, giving her husband a kiss on the cheek. Something Michael wanted to do as well but… 

“True, Mrs. Hynek. Well, I should probably go.” He squeezed his hands, looking towards the corridor to see if Joel hadn’t gone out of the bathroom.

Sensing what he was thinking, Mimi placed her hand on Michael’s arm. “I’m going to call Joel so you can say goodbye.”

“Okay.”

She left them in the living room and Allen turned to touch Michael’s hand sweetly. 

“Thank you for coming. It means the world to Joel… and to me.”

“I know.” Michael’s finger caught one of Allen’s fingers and played with it. “Thank you for allowing me to be with you.”

Because of how society worked, Allen and Michael had already learned how to communicate their feelings through their eyes and by now, they were professionals. Tons of things could be said through dark brown and blue eyes, and that’s what they did in that moment, standing in Hynek’s living room, until Joel took them out of that trance. He was wearing pajamas with little spaceships on it. Obviously Allen’s choice.

“Are you leaving already?” The kid’s voice sounded disappointed and it broke Michael’s heart.

“Unfortunately, yes. You have school tomorrow and I have to work.” Michael crouched, placing one of his hands on Joel’s shoulder.

“Ah, ok then.”

“Well, Captain Quinn could put you to sleep.” Allen suggested and Joel looked at his father in surprise. Even Michael was surprised.

“Yes!!” Joel cheered and Michael grabbed him by his waist and threw him on his own shoulders. 

“Soldier, time to rest!” Michael patted the boy’s back and carried him all the way to his bedroom, landing him on the bed. Allen followed them and stopped by the door.

Michael pushed his blanket up until his chest, smoothing the material on its sides. “Okay now, tomorrow we have an important battle and if you don’t rest, you won’t be able to win, soldier!”

Joel giggled, closing his eyes. “Okay, I’ll try my best, captain!”

“Good.” Michael said. "Good night, Joel." He timidly kissed the boy’s forehead and raised from the bed, looking at Allen, who was smiling from ear to ear. 

“This is beautiful to see.” Allen moved his lips but no sound came of it. It was also their way of communicating without anyone knowing what they were talking about. Michael read Allen’s lips moving and he smiled from ear to ear too.

“It’s all because of you.” Michael replied in the same way, no sound from his mouth.

They left the room together, closing the door on a peaceful looking Joel. Again, this wasn’t ideal but it made Michael the happiest he has ever been in life. So when he left Allen’s house a couple of minutes later, he promised to himself that he was going to repay Allen for this little window into family life. He didn’t know yet how but Michael knew his professor pretty well. He was going to find a way.


End file.
